Earning A Second Hyatt Free Night Award: My Experience

The World of Hyatt Credit Card is a card I really like. It has a $95 annual fee, but offers a variety of benefits that make it more than worthwhile, in my opinion.

Why the World of Hyatt Card is valuable

Among other things, the card offers:

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• Automatic World of Hyatt Discoverist status for as long as your account is open
• 5 qualifying night credits toward your next tier status every year
• 2 qualifying night credits towards your next tier status every time you spend $5,000 on your card
• A Category 1-4 anniversary free night certificate on your account anniversary every year
• A second Category 1-4 free night certificate when you spend $15,000 on the card in a calendar year

So at a minimum, you’re getting five elite nights towards status and a Category 1-4 free night certificate every year just for having the World of Hyatt Credit Card. To me that more than justifies the annual fee on the card, by a long shot (I consistently get $250+ of value out of the free night certificate alone). On top of that, this is a card that’s worth spending on, at least for Hyatt loyalists, in my opinion.

The World of Hyatt Card’s first year sweet spot

Personally, I think the World of Hyatt Credit Card is worth holding onto long term, though there’s special value to be had in the first year. If you spend $15,000 on the card in the first calendar year, you potentially earn the following:

• A stash of Hyatt points
• A total of 11 elite nights towards status (five just for having the card, plus six for spending $15,000)
• A second anniversary free night certificate, which you earn for spending $15,000 on the card per year

The $15K spend free night award

I got the World of Hyatt Credit Card late last year, and I’ve just completed my first $15,000 of spend on the card. What this means is that with the card I’ve now earned the entire welcome bonus, I’ve earned a total of 11 elite night towards status, and I’ve earned my free night award for having spent $15,000.

I know many people are curious about the timing of all of these benefits so that they can plan their travels, so I wanted to share my experience:

• The five elite nights just for having the card typically post within days of when you get the card, and within a couple of weeks of the beginning of the year when the calendar year resets
• The incremental two elite nights per $5,000 spent post within a few days of when you complete the qualifying spend

So, what about the free night award for spending $15,000 within a calendar year? Well, just today I received an email from Hyatt indicating that I had earned that free night award.

When I logged into my Hyatt account, I saw the Category 1-4 free night award listed under the “My Awards” section.

In looking at the timing of this, this happened just after the statement where I completed my $15,000 of spend posted. My statement closed on March 17, and my Hyatt account indicates that this is when the points posted to my account. Then the free night was deposited a few days later.

Just to compare this to the terms, they state that the certificate will post within 2-3 weeks of completion of qualifying activity.

Bottom line

I’m happy to see that the Category 1-4 free night award on the World of Hyatt Credit Card posts just a few days after the statement closing date. That’s faster than expected, and for that matter, I’ve found that most of the benefits on the card have been posting faster than expected, including the elite qualifying nights offered by the card.